15-6-2010
At app. midday on Tuesday 15 June 2010, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), which are positioned at the northern separation fence between Gaza and Israel, opened fire on a peaceful assembly of the ‘Popular Campaign against the Buffer Zone’. As a result, Zakaria Ibrahim Abu Watfa, 62, was injured and his leg was broken. Abu Watfa was delivering a speech against the buffer zone when the IOF opened fire on the people gathered. Hundreds of Palestinians moved towards the northern border and stopped a few meters away from the northern separation fence to protest against the 'buffer zone'. The demonstrators left the area immediately.
The 'Popular Campaign against the Buffer Zone' consists of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and several groups of non-governmental organizations. This demonstration is organized weekly on Tuesdays in places near the separation fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. It is organized to express solidarity with Palestinian farmers who work near the borders and can't reach their lands to work. It is also organized to protest against Israel's attempts to enforce the security 'buffer zone' inside the Gaza Strip.
